Sniper (Payday 2)
The Sniper is a special enemy in Payday 2. They tend to appear on rooftops or in windows with a good view of the area. The Sniper can be easily identified by his bright red laser and the loud report of his rifle. Snipers have 40 health (68 on Death Wish) and can easily be killed even when the intention is to suppress them. Sometimes in certain missions before Bain announces their arrival, you can see them running to a building or being dropped off by a police chopper. The Snipers have 2 different models, the SWAT variation and FBI variation. FBI Snipers seem more likely to hit their target, however there is usually only one brought in at a time, and they are only employed in certain heists, such as on a rooftop of Rats day 2, above the van in Garage Escape, and Election Day (Both day 1 and day 2 plan B). Otherwise, SWAT Snipers are employed, most often in groups of two, although more can be brought in at once, as shown in Big Bank if the C4 tunneling escape has been chosen. Their attributes besides that are identical. Snipers take 2x damage from headshots under normal circumstances, and 1.5x on Death Wish difficulty. Behavior The Sniper has the simplest behavior of the special enemies. When they arrive, the Sniper picks a perch, stays there, and fires at any player that can see his face. His shots deal moderately high damage (depending on difficulty). The Sniper is the only enemy capable of piercing the players's armor, meaning any excess damage done after a player's armor is broken is carried over as health damage. When this happens, a loud metallic "clang" is heard. He is especially dangerous when the crew is transporting heavy loot across an open area, and so it is advised to either clear any Snipers overlooking the area before moving loot, or take it through a less Sniper-friendly area, if possible. Snipers have the same health as gang members and will always use pre-designated spots around the map. It is thus useful to memorize common sniper perches. Snipers tend to miss their first shot if the players are moving, giving ample time to locate and shoot them. Players should be very cautious of Snipers when they are within their view. One thing to keep in mind is that Snipers can shoot whilst moving to their perch, and their distinctive red beam sight does not activate until they are in position. This is most often observable on Day 1 of Rats, as Snipers moving to their perches on the road across from the house can have ample time to snap off shots at players moving in the upper floor of the house. Strategy Always remember the Sniper's locations, as well as where you have cover from them. Once Bain reports Snipers to the players, either kill them quickly, avoid them, or shoot from cover. There are only a few possible Sniper perches in each heist, so if players can memorize these locations then Snipers can be taken out quickly. Snipers can be taken out quickly with any accurate weapon. Any weapons aside from most shotguns and light machine guns are generally a good pick for counter-sniping. Long-range counter-sniping with shotguns is typically ill-advised; even with flechette munitions they are largely incapable of hitting snipers beyond 20-30m. If taking out a sniper seems impossible because of your current situation, suppressing him can work just as well. Continually firing at a sniper's position will cause him to duck and cover, preventing him from shooting back, and a stray shot may get lucky enough to put an end to him. Even a nonlethal hit may be enough to force them to stay down for some time. If counter-sniping using any of the three sniper rifles, the Theia scope's ability to automatically highlight special enemies may prove useful over longer distances and in dark conditions where the sniper may otherwise be hard to see, such as in Day 1 of Rats and certain spots in the Train heist. If a Sniper has you pinned down but you know where he is, moving into sight and then back to cover quickly can cause him to waste a shot trying to hit you. You can then jump out of cover and fire at him before he can fire another shot. By far, Snipers are the most deadly when the heist area is expansive but lacks adequate cover. Maps with little to no cover or has multiple objectives for the crew to undertake out in the open are especially frustrating as they often comes with a hefty complement of these units, perched on top of the many surrounding buildings/cliffs. Examples of such maps includes Hotline Miami (Day 1 and near the end of Day 2), Armored Transport (Crossroads) and Train. Achievements Trivia * Although the Sniper can be marked like other special units and is listed as a special unit, he does not count as a special kill. * Like Shields, Snipers never speaks, although considering their distance from the main battlefield, it could just be that it's impossible to hear their chatter from that far away. * Despite the distinctly high-caliber gunshot sound, the Sniper does not appear to use a sniper rifle or designated marksman rifle. Instead, he uses the same ultra-short CAR-4 often used by other law enforcers which, with such a short barrel and small caliber, would not qualify as a marksman's or sniper's weapon. This is similar to the sniper unit in PAYDAY: The Heist, who wields an AMCAR-4. ** Though the "Taste of their own Medicine" achievement requires a player to use a sniper rifle (Rattlesnake) to kill them, they don't ever seem to wield a weapon of such type in-game, despite the moniker. This is likely, however, a nod to the fact that the player has killed a Sniper with a sniper rifle, the very weapon that gave the enemy its traditional name and reputation. *The Sniper is the only special unit type to not have an April Fools "joke" upgrade alongside the Taser. Category:Special enemies (Payday 2)